U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,766 (BEGGS, PROCESS FOR REDUCING IRON OXIDE TO METALLIC SPONGE IRON WITH LIQUID OR SOLID FUELS) provides an economical process for the direct reduction (DR) of iron ore by the efficient production of a reducing gas when the external source of fuel used in the process is a liquid or solid. A gasifier facility converts a minimal amount of fuel to a gas comprised principally of reductants which is supplemented with reductants reclaimed from the reacted off-gas produced in the reduction process. A controlled amount of water vapor is added to the gas mixture which is heated to approximately reduction furnace temperature before undergoing a shift reaction to equilibrium externally of the furnace to produce a reducing gas having a preferred gas composition.
It is preferable, however, that this process may be modified somewhat, with a CO2 and steam reformer replacing the gasifier and being fed by recovered CO2. Such CO2 and steam reformers are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, but such use in a DR process is not.